Idaho Colleges Aren’t The Best Schools for the Money

This week I heard a co-worker utter the phrase "back to school," and I had to look at my smart phone to check the date. Really?! We're on the downhill side of the summer already.

If you're a college student, you may be working all summer to build up some funds for tuition this fall cuz it's dang expensive. We know we're paying a lot, but are Idaho schools worth the money?

TIME Money broke down the tuition numbers for more than 700 schools across the country, and Princeton, Michigan, Harvard, and Rice were the big winners. It costs about $62,000 per year at those schools without financial aid, and $16,000 or so with aid. But the value of a degree from Princeton or Harvard is high. Those are prestigious schools and grads are likely to find jobs quick. Grads of Princeton can expect to earn about $62,000 right out of college, which is almost the exact amount those students spend on tuition each year. Yikes.

So Idaho college grads, we may not earn as much money right out of school, but we're also paying less than the cost of a luxury vehicle each year for a good education and probably having more fun than many of those higher-ranking schools. So there's that. And we have some pretty awesome football programs and our student sections would beat any of those East Coast schools.

It's a bit of a surprise that Boise State didn't rank in the top 200 schools on this list, isn't it? The highest ranking Idaho school is the University of Idaho, coming in at #198. Tuition for one year is about $20,000 without financial aid, and there are 124 majors to pick from.

How much tuition are you paying at Boise State?

"Back-to-school" is right around the corner, and that means there are just a few weeks left to get our bank accounts ready. And if you have a tuition scholarship, you are awesome! Don't take that for granted. Your parents sure aren't.